UberEATS launches in Stapleton

You can now use your Uber account to order food in Stapleton and other parts of Denver! UberEATS is a new food delivery service that basically uses local Uber drivers to bring you food. We had a promo code to give it a try with McDonald's, so thought we would check it out.

The UberEATS app is pretty slick - you can sort restaurants by price, dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free), recommended, most popular, or delivery time. It also gives you top burger/sandwich picks and lets you search by category or type of food. (Note: I used the Android version of the app, but it's also available for iPhone.)

You can select "ASAP" delivery, or set a time. I ordered around 2:15 p.m. for a 5:30-6:00 p.m. delivery to coincide with my kids' coming home from afternoon activities.

I selected the McDonald's in Stapleton and learned that it was in the "American," "Fast Food," and "Burgers" categories, inexpensive ($ on a scale of $ to $$$$), that if I wanted lunch and dinner I could order it from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. (!), and my food would arrive within 30 minutes of ordering if I selected ASAP. So far, so good.

Once you select McDonald's, you can either scroll and browse through the menu or jump to your favorite item. I did both - I scrolled down to find the Happy Meals for my kids, then used the menu to jump to the salad section for my husband and me.

After you select your item, you have a choice of options and can adjust the quantity. I ordered my kids' favorite: the 6-piece McNugget Happy Meal with yogurt and apple juice (x2).

For my husband and myself, it was the Southwest salad with grilled chicken and a side of fries (x2).

When you've finished making all your selections the app lets you review your cart. You can make changes, add a special note for those preparing the food, or go back to add more food.

The one real downside of this service is the $4.99 booking fee, but then, if I want food delivered at 3:00 in the morning, that would be worth it. Having a convenience fee isn't too bad for the service they're providing, and it's pretty reasonable for food brought to my door. Since the driver works for Uber, no tip is expected, either. (I gave one anyway, but I knew it wasn't required.)

I pushed the green "Schedule Order button and went on with my day. At 5:21 p.m. I received two notifications - that my order had been placed and that they were preparing my meal. (I'm guessing the app holds onto the pre-scheduled orders so as not to totally confuse the restaurant. Makes sense.)

Just like with Uber, I could track my order and its status and received a notification that a driver had been assigned. I was given an estimated time of arrival and could track and contact the driver.

Our order had an ETA of 5:41 p.m. My family arrived home at 5:41, and the UberEATs driver knocked on the door at 5:42 p.m. Not bad! While the food was being prepared, the ETA changed from 5:40 to 5:46, which I assume depends on live traffic. The estimate was incredibly accurate, the driver was friendly, and we didn't have to cook!

Our salads, drinks, and yogurts were cold, the fries and McNuggets were just as warm as if we had gone to the drive-through ourselves - not cold by any means.

Again, since it's Uber-based, the app asked for our feedback. How was the food? How was our driver?

We were pleased all the way around.

Will we use the service regularly? Probably not. Will we use it when we're looking for delivery and just don't feel like going out? Most certainly.

Give it a try! Use code MCDSEATS in the UberEATS app for $5.00 off your first UberEATS order - valid thru 7/1/18